The Brittons

Jeremy and Cassie during the dance Gracie and Jeremy Gracie all dressed up Sarah, Nick and Gracie Annie and Gracie Grandma and Gracie After Christmas, we celebrated Jeremy and Cassie's wedding. Nick, Gracie and I headed to Indianola on Friday to help with all the decorating and preparation. We had the rehearsal and dinner that night. There was a lot of work that went into it all and it was a beautiful wedding. Friday was a really nice day with temps around 60 degrees. It was amazing. However, everything froze that night and we had ice and freezing rain on Saturday morning. Unfortunately a lot of people couldn't get to the wedding. It was a very busy weekend, but so much fun to see everyone and my sister and Chad were also able to make it up for the wedding. They both helped out with kids while Nick and I performed our duties in the wedding. Gracie was so cooperative and pleasant throughout the weekend. I can't believe how well she does. (although she was a b...

Taking naps after Christmas with Grandpa and Dad. Grammy and Grandpa with Gracie. Christmas Eve Gracie on top of one of her presents Gracie's new cowgirl boots All the kids at the Merrills' (L to R) Bix, Lucas, Ryleigh, Aryanna, Tony, Amber, Gracie, Mary Gracie getting kisses from Jasmine Gracie has her first Christmas under her belt now. It was a lot of excitement and a lot of fun. We celebrated Christmas with all of Nick's siblings down at his mom's on the 21st. Gracie got a new rocking horse, cowgirl boots and many other things to play with from her grandparents and aunts and uncles. She did really well and was happy as usual. She went to the ISU men's basketball game on the 23rd with Grammy and Grandpa Blyth and then spent the day with them on the 24th. We had lunch at our house with my parents and grandma, which was really nice. Gracie was also spoiled appropriately by them. She got a new exersaucer and new clothes. We all went to the Christmas Eve...

Gracie is almost rolling over on her own! Sleeping with her dad I know it has been awhile since I have update our blog. Since Thanksgiving we have been pretty busy and I also got sick and I think Gracie was also not feeling well for a few days. Gracie is still doing really well at daycare and they tell me that she is always happy there. She has rolled over from her tummy to her back, but isn't doing it consistently yet. She is almost rolling over from her back to her front, but not quite. She is able to hold things better now and is getting better at sitting. She can't quite do it by herself, though. She has had two babysitters in the past couple weeks. Both were friends of mine from work. She did pretty well with them. She is now eating about 6oz for most feedings, which is pretty good. She is eating about every 3-4 hours and is sleeping at night from around 10pm-7am. She went through a week where she was waking up between 3 and 4, but she is back to sleeping w...

I figured since Thanksgiving is over, we can get the Christmas stuff out... :) Aunt Annie and Grandpa playing with Gracie. Annie and Chad got engaged!!!! Sarah and Annie with Gracie. Gracie and Annie Grandpa and Gracie Gracie has learned to sit in her Bumbo and is getting good at holding things...kind of. Gracie and her cousin Ryleigh are playing together! We have been very busy since our last post. Stephanie and I hosted a shower for Cassie at our house and Ryleigh and Gracie got to play together. Ryleigh is a bit more mobile than Gracie right now, though. The shower went well and it was good to see everyone again. Gracie does pretty well in her Bumbo and has learned how to watch TV from it. I had her turned away from the TV one night and she was turning her head to try to watch it. Scary... She is also moving around quite a bit when she is on her back. She can roll over to her side and turn herself completely around on her activity mat. The daycare people said that she t...

These are more pictures from last weekend at her baptism. This past week has been very busy. My "new" job is going ok and I have been very busy learning how the schools work. Hopefully I will enjoy working at Ames High and Middle schools. Gracie had her 2 month check up. She is very healthy and weighed in at 13 lbs 10 oz. She has gained 4 1/2 lbs in the last two months. Pretty impressive. She is also now 24 inches long. The doctor listened to her heart again and there were no problems with that. Gracie did well at daycare last week and they love her there. She is the only girl in there right now. She has still been sleeping very well, except last night she quirmed her way into the corner of her crib and woke herself up at 4am. She was not very happy. The sleep positioner is not working as well as it used to. She must move around in her sleep as much as she makes noise. We got to see a lot of our family again this weekend for Cassie's shower. That was fun...

Gracie's baptism was this past weekend, so we had our whole family at our house. It was so good to have everyone together and I'm glad everyone could come. Gracie did very well and slept through almost the entire service. She was very happy to have a lot of attention, too. I am back to work now and will be starting work at Ames Schools next week. Gracie has been going to daycare everyday and seems to be doing fine. She was struggling with eating the first couple days, but hopefully that is getting better. She has been sleeping all night for the past five nights. Usually she goes to bed around 10-10:30 and we get her up around 7am to get ready for the day. She woke Nick up last night, but he put her pacifier back in her mouth and she fell back asleep. So, no complaints here. It has been so nice getting six hours of sleep all at once. I'm sure Gracie likes it too. I don't know many more updates. We are taking her to her two month doctor appointment today. ...

Here are a couple more pictures from Halloween. Gracie helped hand out candy, kind of.

This outfit did not last very long. At least she could wear it for a couple hours, I guess. Gracie loves being held by Grandma while she's sleeping! It has been awhile since I updated our blog. We have been pretty busy. Gracie is two months old today and for the first time she slept from 10:30pm to about 6:45am. I was so excited when I woke up this morning! Gracie went into daycare on Tuesday while I had a job interview to work as a student assistance counselor at Ames High School and Middle School. It would be doing the same thing, just working in the schools. We'll see how that goes... Gracie did pretty well at daycare. She will be taken care of by "Grandma" Judy and Lindsey on a daily basis. They seem to like her and told me that she is a good baby and a really good eater. Of course, I already knew that! :) Gracie has also started sucking on her fists more. Every once in awhile she will get her thumb, which I believe is her ...

Another week has passed and I can't believe it! Gracie is getting so big. She is doing great with tummy time as you can see in one of the pictures. She pushes herself up pretty well. A lot of the time, though she is lazy and will just fall asleep. She is getting better with napping and developing her routine. The last two nights she has slept between five and six hours all at once. She's making lots of progress. Gracie is happy most of the time and lets you know when she is getting tired and needs a nap. My friend Megan from Arizona visted on Friday with her son Drew. I'm so glad that they got to meet Gracie. Of course, Gracie slept through most of it. Then on Saturday, Grandma Deb stayed with Gracie while I got to go to the Iowa State football game. The game was not good, but I think Gracie enjoyed her time with Grandma. Otherwise there is not a lot new here. I have three weeks left until I go back to work and Gracie starts daycare. I'm sure they will go very quickly...

Gracie made her first trip down to Missouri to see Grandpa and Grandma and Chad and Annie. I have to say that she did great in the car! I should have taken a picture before we left. Who knew that a baby could take up so much room! We could barely get Jasmine down to Nick's mom's for her to dog sit! Gracie slept most of the way down and back. She was appropriately spoiled while seeing the family. Nick and I got to go out for dinner while Grandma and her friends babysat. Nick also got to go out on a boat ride with Chad a bunch of friends. We also went out to celebrate Annie's birthday, which was pretty fun. Gracie did great with everyone and I think she really liked all the attention. We didn't get to take her on a boat ride, so that will probably have to wait until spring. The weather was beautiful there over the weekend and I'm glad we got to enjoy it. Overall, I think our first road trip was a success. Gracie is doing about the same as far as growing. She still...

The second bath went a little better so we took some pictures. We watched the ISU football game on Saturday and one of my friends came to join us at our house. Unfortunately, Gracie's cheering didn't help the clones win. Gracie is also starting to really enjoy her activity gym. She hits at the toys and talks to herself the whole time. She is constantly moving when I put her under it. She has been pretty consistent with sleeping 4-5 hours at night, which has been really nice. Nick and I took Gracie with to Old George's Pizza after the game and then to Gracie's uncle Josh's to visit. She does really well when we take her out with us. Last night Nick and I went out for dinner for our anniversary, and of course, Gracie got to go too. Otherwise not much is new. I can't believe it has already been five weeks. My maternity leave is halfway over!